Page 30 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

I shook my head. “Photographs on his phone,” I said nodding towards Matheus. “On his phone. I understand if you don’t want to look at them. But it’s the nearest thing we have, and the fastest way will be able to show you.”

“It’s okay. I can see them,” she said.

I pulled up the pictures that were just the close-ups of the chest, hoping that would at least make it a little less shocking. She looked at them a moment in the fading afternoon light, her stare impassive. Too impassive. It was the look of somebody who didn’t want me to know what they were thinking or feeling. She was carefully controlling every inch of her face, making it expressionless. No doubt, no uncertainty, no recognition, just a bland apathy that made it impossible to read.

“You know what these are.” I played a hunch.

I caught her off guard a bit. She looked ruffled as she turned and looked at the teen to her right.

“We want to help,” I said. “We understand you’ve lost two of your family members today and we just want to find the person who did it. We can’t do it without your help.”

“Shouldn’t they be taking us down to the police station for questioning then or something like that?” Gordy asked stepping into the living room.

“No,” Matheus said. “We aren’t here with the police,”

“She works at the sheriff’s office.” Gordy pointed at me.

“How could you possibly know that?” I asked.

They all stared at me like I was a complete idiot.

“Just because you don’t remember seeing us,” Gordy said, “doesn’t mean we don’t remember seeing you in the cop shop.”

“Look, I’m terribly sorry.” My skin flushed with embarrassment. “Names were never my thing. My name is Bianca. I work at the sheriffs as a dispatcher, but I only work part time on some nights. I’m sorry I don’t remember you. We really are here trying to help you find out who did this to your family. Is there anything you can tell us about the symbols?”

My words seem to mollify the woman and she took a deep breath. “The boy who died is my nephew and the girl is his girlfriend.”

“Do you know anyone who could’ve done this?” I asked.

Gordy shook her head, rubbing her arms around her shoulders. “No idea whatsoever,” she said.

I glanced at Matheus, who was talking animatedly to one of the older harpies as he left the kitchen and made his way out of the trailer. Clearly, he was getting the information I was not.

“Thank you,” I said. “I think we’re done here.”

I said my goodbye to the teens and followed Matheus, who seemed to be holding court outside with a group of the harpies from the trailer park.

Silence descended on the group as I walked up. Matheus put his arm around me, but I didn’t mind. He was affectionate and after everything I’d been through, I could use a little warmth.

“Thank you for the information,” Matheus said. “We’ll be going on our way.”

I didn’t say a word until we were walking back toward the bike. But I couldn’t stop myself. “What information? They haven’t told us anything.”

“They didn’t tell you anything, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t tell me something.” Matheus chuckled.

“What did you find out?” I asked in a hushed tone as we pulled on our helmets.

“The last place anyone from here knows of those two going was to The Estate. Your new friend Mae is going to be the number one suspect in this case, I imagine.”

Chapter 22

“Where are we going, now?” I yelled over the wind as we missed the turn off to Cougar Creek. I wasn’t nervous of Matheus anymore. I just had a lot going on in my head, and it was probably time to go home.

“My place,” he yelled back in response. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”

I could only imagine what that was, but maybe I was just being hopeful. I shook my head. The last thing I imagined this guy was going to be doing right now was planning for an afternoon rendezvous at his house. Not when he had been all Mr. Serious.

Everything felt crazy with me turning into a werewolf and dead bodies showing up. At least we knew that I was not responsible those dead bodies. There was no way I would’ve mauled humans and written symbols on them.

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